The Gates of Byzantium (The Babylon Series, Book 2)

by Sam Sisavath

  Josh scrambled back up to a sitting position and picked up the nail. It was so small it almost slipped from his fingers.

  He looked at the nail, then at the retainer block of the zip tie, before cautiously positioning the sharp point between the strap and the interior wall of the retainer block. With the ball of his forefinger, he pushed the nail in and felt both strap and block resisting. He pushed harder and felt pain against his finger. He kept pushing, almost willing the nail through the slot, and was finally rewarded when the nail sank a full quarter of the way down.

  From there, it was easier to get the nail down another half inch. Then three quarters. With the nail now firmly lodged between the strap and the retainer block, Josh pushed his right wrist downward against the strap.

  The strap didn’t move at first—then slowly but surely, it went down half an inch. That was enough for Josh to slip his right hand free, and he had to restrain himself from shouting out in triumph.

  Suck on that, mofos!

  He hurriedly pulled the nail out of the retainer block and used it to free his left hand. He did the same to the zip tie around his ankles, then pushed himself to his feet. He did it too fast and stumbled, almost fell, but caught himself on his knees just in time. He got up again, this time more slowly.

  Nail in hand, Josh hurried over to Will. He thought about freeing Gaby first, but that was the soft, gooey part of him talking. The tough, hardened part of him knew he needed help. Freed or not, he wasn’t going to be able to take on Tom or Marcus—or hell, even Karen—by himself if they showed up now. Not wearing boxers and armed only with a nail, anyway.

  Josh checked the doors again, in case all of his rolling around had attracted attention. Still good to go.

  Will was where Josh had last seen him, resting on his side in his boxers, hands zip-tied behind his back. “Will,” Josh said, crouching over him. When that didn’t work, he said louder, “Will, wake up.”

  That didn’t work, either.

  Josh thought about it, then tapped Will lightly on the cheek. “Will, wake up.”

  Nothing. Josh really thought about it this time, then slapped Will across the cheek. He was prepared to jump back if Will woke up and swung at him. But he didn’t have to because the slap did nothing.

  Will didn’t even stir.

  Josh felt for Will’s pulse, just to be sure, and found it. There. He really was just asleep, and Josh had no idea how to wake him up. In the movies, all you had to do to wake someone who had been drugged was tap them on the cheeks. Or say their name loud enough. That wasn’t going to happen here. He had done both those things, even the slapping part, which had terrified him.

  So now what? Maybe if he could splash water on Will’s face. That usually worked in the movies, too. Of course, he didn’t have any water…

  Josh was trying to find ways around this new problem when he heard noises.

  Footsteps!

  He scrambled up and darted across the room toward the door the footsteps were approaching. He was suddenly very glad he was barefoot, because he made almost no noise as he ran. He flattened his back against the wall next to the door and held his breath.

  He listened to the footsteps getting closer. Was it his imagination or did it sound like the person was moving fast, almost urgently? Or maybe it was just his heart racing, making his entire body vibrate against the wall, all the way down to the cold floor.

  The floor was so cold. Why was it so cold? Oh, right, he wasn’t wearing shoes.

  The doorknob jingled and began turning clockwise. It looked like it was moving in slow-motion, rotating barely an inch per second, but that was just his mind playing tricks on him. The doorknob opened at the same speed that all doorknobs opened, but at that moment, standing there pressed against the door in his boxers, trying to remember to breathe, everything looked like it took forever to process, even the delicate, thin flakes of dust floating through the moonlight in front of him.

  Then the door was opening and Josh saw a flash of skin and shirt and pants and before he knew it, Josh had thrown himself forward and into the figure, catching the person around the waist. They both went sprawling to the floor, and Josh heard the sound of something metallic clattering. He managed to look up and saw a small knife spinning along the floor, away from them.

  Josh scrambled up on top of the person, raising himself slightly, and he thought, I’m about to hit someone. Oh God, I hope I’m doing this right¸ and cocked back his right hand as far as it would go.

  He was ready to deliver the blow, to smash down with righteous indignation, when the person under him looked over their shoulder and Josh heard a female voice through the adrenaline flowing through him like a loud, rushing river.

  “Josh, stop!”

  Josh froze and looked down at Sarah’s frightened face. “Sarah?”

  “It’s just me,” she said, looking up at him, trying to catch her breath.

  Josh’s right hand remained cocked. Sarah was one of them, one of the people who had lured them here and fed them and laughed with them and drugged them. She was the one who had brought out the glasses with the wine.

  She was reading his face, terrified at what she was seeing. “I came back to help, Josh! Please, I only came back to help!”

  He glanced over at the knife.

  She followed his gaze, understood. “I was going to cut you free. And then the others. I swear, Josh, I only came back to help.”

  He hesitated. Was she telling the truth? Could he even trust her? He had pleaded with her earlier because he’d had no choice. But he had the upper hand this time…

  So this is what it feels like to be on top for once.

  “Why?” he asked, keeping his body on top of her. She hadn’t tried to get away, so that was encouraging.

  “I thought about what you said. I can’t keep doing this anymore. It’s not right.”

  “We’re not the first ones…”

  “No.” He could hear sadness in her voice. It was genuine. Either that, or Sarah was the greatest actress who ever lived.

  Make a choice!

  He did, and climbed off her. Sarah looked relieved and picked herself up from the floor. Josh offered his hand and she took it. “Are the others coming?”

  “No, they’re asleep. Except Tom. He doesn’t sleep very much. He’s up in the Tower, where he always is.”

  “Can he see us from there?”

  “No, I don’t think so. The ballroom is toward the other side of the hotel.” She paused, then said, “How did you get out of the zip ties?”

  “I used a nail.”

  “A nail?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Wow.”

  “Why?”

  “No one’s ever gotten out of those zip ties before. But then no one’s ever woken up before, either. Are you…immune to it or something?”

  “That depends. What is ‘it’?”

  “It’s a form of Rohypnol.”

  “I don’t know what that is.”

  “What?”

  “Rohyp-what?”

  “Rohypnol,” Sarah said. “People call it roofies.”

  “I knew it. The date-rape drug thing.”

  “It’s not pure Rohypnol,” she said, almost defensively. “I adjusted it a bit.”

  “Whatever.” He walked over to the knife and picked it up. “Whose idea was the drug in the wine bit?”

  She gave him a sheepish look. “Mine. It was either that, or do it Tom and Karen’s way, and that…wouldn’t have been good for any of you.”

  “So you’re doing us a favor?” he said, the doubt plain in his voice.

  “Yes.” She looked embarrassed again, her cheeks appearing slightly red even in the semi-darkness of the room. “I’m sorry.”

  He shook it off. She had a lot to answer for, she and the others, but this wasn’t the time. Not even close. He looked up at the moonlight coming in through the high windows above them. “How long before whoever is supposed to come here for us actually comes for us?” />
  “I don’t know,” Sarah said. She rubbed her shoulders as if she were cold. He thought that was amusing, since he was the one walking around barefoot in his boxers. “Only Karen knows when they’re coming. She says it could be soon, or later, or tomorrow night. I don’t know for sure. Karen, Tom, and Marcus are the ones who really take care of things. We mostly just stay out of their way.”

  “Who are ‘they’?” Josh asked. The question had been on his mind for a while now. “The people that are coming. Who are ‘they’?”

  Josh saw the color drain from her face, and he suddenly knew the answer before she said it.

  “Them,” she said. “The creatures. They’re the ones coming for you…”

  CHAPTER 27

  WILL

  “HE WANTS YOU, Will.”

  He was back in Deussen Park, watching an idiot in a fast boat going back and forth on the lake ten meters from where the piers ended. The man was annoying a small group of fishermen along the shore of Lake Houston, and every now and then, one of the fishermen would flip the boater off, but the man was oblivious. Either that, or he didn’t care.

  “‘He?’” Will said.

  “The blue-eyed ghoul,” Kate said. “The first one you saw, outside the bank in Cleveland. His name is Mabry.”

  “They have names?”

  She laughed. It was melodic and feminine, and he was struck again by how much more human and womanly she sounded and looked in these dream encounters, compared to the way she had when he had actually known her. Back when she was still human.

  That was a long time ago…

  “We all have names, Will,” Kate said. “Most of us just don’t use them anymore.”

  “What about you? Do you still use ‘Kate’?”

  “I do. I find it helps me stand out from the crowd. And when there are billions of your species out there, and everyone kind of looks like everyone else, it’s a little hard to stand out.” She smiled. He wondered if that was a joke. “Mabry doesn’t mind. After all, he’s keeping his.”

  She leaned against the railing along the walkway that rose three meters from the calm water below. At least, it was calm for the few seconds it took the man in the fast boat to come back around.

  He was wearing slacks and a white dress shirt for some reason. Kate wore a pink Sunday dress. It was simple and elegant, and it looked fantastic on her. She always did have a beautiful body. A woman’s body. Curves in all the right places, as they say. Breasts pressing out at all the right angles.

  She smiled. “I’m glad you like it. I made some improvements for you.”

  “This would go better if you stopped reading my mind.”

  She laughed again. “Sorry.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  They continued up the walkway, passing an angry fisherman in mud boots and a straw hat throwing the finger at the fast boater.

  “Why does he want me?” Will asked. “This Mabry?”

  “At first, he was angry at you. But then after you survived the siege at Harold Campbell’s facility, I think he became infatuated.”

  “That’s a disturbing thought.”

  “It’s a compliment.”

  “I don’t take compliments from undead ghouls.”

  “Be a little more open-minded, Will,” she said, sounding like a mother chastising her son.

  “What does he want with me?”

  “He wants you to join us. Come over.”

  “I thought you just wanted me to kill myself. Get it over with.”

  She shrugged. “He’s changed his mind. Now he wants you to become one of us. It’s not like you have much choice, Will. When you wake up from this, you’ll realize that Song Island isn’t the sanctuary you thought it was. Far from it, in fact.”

  “I never thought it was a sanctuary.”

  “No, but you led the others there. You might not have believed it, but you hoped for it.”

  Maybe…

  What the hell was going on out there? Back in the real world? He remembered going to sleep. And then dreaming, which had brought him here to Deussen Park. And Kate was here, as if she had been waiting for him to return since the last time.

  “Why does he want to recruit me?” Will asked. “I thought humanity was a lost cause. That we can’t win this war.”

  “You can’t.”

  “So why?”

  She sighed, as if he were testing her patience. “Because Texas isn’t the only place where people like you are still fighting, Will. You should see how much trouble those idiots in New York are giving Mabry. That’s why he’s left me in charge of this area. He has to deal with them. California’s a mess, too. And Alaska. Well, it’s Alaska. It’s cold out there, and Mabry isn’t sure he even wants it.”

  “Sounds like you have your hands full.”

  “Humanity can’t win this war, but you’re capable of making it difficult for us to move forward. Mabry wants to deal with the troublemakers, nip it in the bud, if you will. Leave it alone for too long, ignore the problem, and it will fester and grow. That’s why he wants you. You’re a soldier. Mabry is smart, but he’s not a soldier, and a part of being smart is understanding your limitations. He wants both you and Danny, but he’ll settle for just you.”

  California? New York? How many other places?

  “They can’t help you, Will,” she said. “They’re in worse shape than you are, they just don’t know it.”

  “They don’t know about the silver.”

  She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that it’s all over for you and Lara and the others. Arriving at Song Island was the end of the road.”

  “What’s happening on Song Island?”

  “Oh, you’ll find out soon enough.” She smiled mischievously at him. “It was my idea, you know. It’s why Mabry turned me. He’s been planning this for years, decades—God, I don’t know, maybe centuries. But he’s no longer human enough to think outside the box. I am. But then again, I was always good at selling dreams to desperate people.”

  The man on the fast boat went by again, and the sound of his outboard motor had somehow gotten louder. Will didn’t know how that was possible.

  “I can give you Lara,” Kate said. Will looked over at her and she nodded. “I can give Carly to Danny, too. And the little girls, Elise and Vera, if you want. We don’t need them. We have all that we need. But we’ll have to turn the two of you. It’s the only way we can be sure.”

  “There must be millions of soldiers out there. Why do you need us?”

  “Once you’re turned, become what you call ‘ghouls,’ it’s impossible to reverse the transformation. You lose more than your humanity, you lose your experiences, everything that makes you, you. That’s what Mabry wants. You’ll still be you, Will, only…more.”

  “And Lara?”

  “She doesn’t have to be turned. We’ll leave her alone if you want. Let you have her to go home to in the day.” She looked amused by the idea. “Maybe she’ll grow to love you—the new you—all over again.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Have I lied to you before, Will?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “I’m not lying to you now,” she continued. “Help us put an end to this ridiculous troublemaking. I know you want to. You’re tired. Lara’s tired. Danny, Carly… They’re all tired. Isn’t that why you fell for Song Island so easily? Even you and Danny. You wanted what it promised so badly, you couldn’t wait to give in.”

  What the hell is happening on Song Island?

  “Aren’t you tired of the constant fear, the constant running?” she asked, moving closer to him, the heat of her breath against his skin. “It can all end. It will anyway. But this way, it’ll be your choice. And you’ll have Lara. And Danny will have Carly. You’re saving them from the misery. Don’t you want to save them, Will?”

  “What’s happening on Song Island?” he asked.

  She smiled. “You’ll see. Just know this.
I’m coming for you, Will. I’m coming for you…”

  The fast boat was now almost right next to him, flying by so fast and so close the waves rose into the air a good four meters. Will braced himself as the water came crashing down right on top of him with the force of a Mack truck.

  *

  HE WOKE UP to the sight of Josh, eyes closed and right hand wound back like he was preparing to deliver the mother of all curveballs. As the kid’s hand came down, Will grabbed his wrist and held it in the air.

  Josh’s eyes snapped open in shock.

  “Okay, I’m up,” Will said.

  “Oh, God, please don’t kill me,” Josh said, and stumbled back when Will let go of his hand.

  Will sat up on a hard concrete floor in his boxers. A pair of zip ties lay at his feet, the straps slit in half. His head was spinning, but he managed to swim through the thick mud to look around him at a large, unfinished room. Lara, Danny, and the others lay scattered around him. Lara lay on her side, wearing his T-shirt. Danny snored lightly on his side as a woman kneeled next to him, lightly tapping his cheek. There were more recently cut zip ties on the floor.

  The woman was saying over and over, “Wake up. Danny, wake up,” to no real effect. Danny continued to snore. When the woman looked over her shoulder, Will saw that it was Sarah. The single mother with the little girl. The voice on the broadcast.

  “What’s going on, Josh?” Will asked.

  Josh gathered himself, and Will saw he was wearing his boxers, too. “You want the long story or the short story?”

  “Get on with it,” Will said impatiently.

  Josh nodded and told him everything. Waking up while he was being dragged through the hallway by Tom. Escaping from his bindings with, of all things, a nail. Sarah deciding to help. Rohypnol in their wineglasses during dinner. The true purpose of the island.

  “It’s not like you have much choice, Will,” Kate had said in his dream. “When you wake up from this, you’ll realize that Song Island isn’t the sanctuary you thought it was. Far from it, in fact.”

  He crouched next to Lara and felt her pulse. It was steady, and she looked blissfully asleep. He brushed at a strand of blonde hair and watched her for a brief moment before standing up. His legs were wobbly, and it took a while to get blood circulating to all the correct parts.